End of Week, End of Year

It has been extra busy socially as of late. Something about the end of a year that seems to make people realize they haven't seen enough of each other during the year and now is the time to do it before Dec 31st.

I am enjoying the extra lunches and dinners. My pocket book has taken a bit of a hit because of it. In fact D has a breakfast and an after work function while I have a dinner out with a girlfriend tonight. Tomorrow night is another dinner party and Monday another lunch for me. Good stuff.

Next week is my last quarterly tax installment for the year. I am leaving the amount as is, even though I know I will owe next year but I don't want to mess up my cash flow for the rest of December. Remember I won't have access to the second half of my pay cheque until Jan.

We are about 75% packed. I'm afraid it is me that is lagging behind this year. I just haven't felt like it. It won't take me long, probably less than 1/2 hr so that is probably why I haven't bothered. I know I can get it together in no time.

I took a closer look at our last hydro and water bill of the year yesterday and found an interesting fact. Last Nov. we were in France for 1 1/2 wks. This year we didn't go but I took the time off anyways. The usage amounts were almost identical. I'm very pleased with our conservation efforts.

We also got a notice of rate changes for hydro. As our province is slowly switching to "smart meters" (our cottage already got her's), it was a reminder of what we will be paying at different times of the day.

Currently we are paying 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour any time of the day. Smart meter pricing will really help all of us understand the true fluctuation and demand on the system. The on peak price will be 9.3 cents/kwh, mid peak price will be 8 cents/kwh and off peak price will be 4.4 cents/kwh.

This will make a big impact on changing peoples' usage habits. I know we will be doing laundry and most of everything we can within reason on off peak hours. We are lucky that weekends are considered off peak and what is when we are at the cottage most often. We will have to switch gears to our new reality when we are there for week long durations.